Factor VIIIa (LongAte)

Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Digestate and Copyrolysis of Hydrochar-Straw Blends: An Integrated Approach for Bio-crude and Biochar Production.

Grottola Corinna Maria CM, Marotta Giusy G, Amato Davide D, Di Lauro Francesca F et al.

Anaerobic digestion converts wet biogenic wastes into biogas and a byproduct, the digestate, which is a wet material rich in carbon and nutrients widely used in agriculture. However, the large amount produced determines some limitations in this exploitation, thus different thermochemical processes are under investigation. The hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) process is considered a viable thermochemical route to convert high-water-content biomasses into a liquid energy vector, the bio-crude. However, considerable uncertainties remain regarding the use of the HTL solid residue, the hydrochar (HC), which is not regulated as soil amendment. Thus, its transformation into biochar, already recognized by law as soil improver, could be a promising valorization route. In this context, copyrolysis of HC with abundant agricultural residues may represent an effective strategy to further improve resources' valorization. This study proposes an integrated approach that combines the conversion of digestate through HTL into bio-crude and copyrolysis of hydrochar and straw (S), an abundant agricultural waste to produce biochar. HTL of digestate has been performed in a 500 mL batch autoclave reactor and optimized, based on the biocrude yield and properties, investigating different temperatures (300 and 350 °C) and isothermal reaction times (0-30 min). HC produced under the optimal operating conditions for bio-crude production and S have been pyrolyzed individually and in blends with varying compositions (10-50 wt % S) under slow pyrolysis conditions at a final temperature of 450 °C. Pyrolysis products' yields and properties of biochars have been investigated to assess the compliance of biochar with EU Fertilizing Products Regulation (EU 2019/1009) and to identify possible nonlinear effects arising from the combination of the two feedstocks. Results show high biochar yields in the range of 42.8-62.9 wt % and high H/C ratios in the range of 0.68 to 0.61 which comply with the threshold limits imposed by the EU regulations.

Proactive iron supplementation alone in patients on chronic hemodialysis is not sufficient.

Pribelszki Panna P, Szász Máté M, Tapolyai Mihály M

Dialysis patients often become iron-deficient because of many factors, including poor iron absorption from the gut, blood loss during dialysis, frequent blood draws, phosphate binders, and the use of erythropoietin. Oral supplementation is ineffective because of elevated hepcidin levels and low levels of iron-absorbing factors in the duodenal mucosa. Intravenous iron supplementation can be given in two forms: one is to replace iron when the iron content or total iron binding capacity saturation (FeSat) is too low, that is, a reactive dosing (RE); or by administering iron on a schedule of weekly proactive dosing (PRO), as recommended by guidelines. We investigated whether PRO alone is sufficient, as our hospital-based dialysis unit used a PRO schedule according to our current protocol. The data of 102 patients receiving a mean 107.7 ± 65.9 mg/week of intravenous iron (sodium ferric gluconate complex) were analyzed. Fifty-four of the 91 patients with complete datasets had an FeSat 25 (p = 0.0003). After 3 months of both PRO and RE dosing the mean ± standard deviation hemoglobin rose from 10.07 g/dL ±1.35 with PRO alone to 10.55 ± 1.70 (p:0.0008) using both schedules from FeSat: 24.2% ±14.1 and to 29.22% ±9.8 (p:0.0015). Thus, we conclude that the PRO regimen alone is not sufficient to maintain a healthy hemoglobin or FeSat level while using the same amount of erythropoietin.

The dual trxG/PcG protein ULTRAPETALA1 modulates H3K27me3 and directly enhances POLYCOMB REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 activity for fine-tuned reproductive transitions.

Geshkovski Vangeli V, Engelhorn Julia J, Izquierdo Jean-Baptiste JB, Laroussi Hamida H et al.

The antagonistic POLYCOMB (PcG) REPRESSIVE COMPLEX 2 (PRC2) and trithorax (trxG) chromatin machineries orchestrate gene expression during the development of multicellular eukaryotes. These complexes deposit and maintain the repressive trimethyl mark on H3K27 and the activating trimethyl mark on H3K4, respectively. However, the mechanisms governing the switch between these functions remain elusive, especially in plants, whose lifelong, flexible development relies heavily on this process. Here we demonstrate that the plant-specific ULTRAPETALA1 (ULT1) protein, previously reported as a trxG factor antagonizing the PRC2 enzymatic subunit CURLY LEAF (CLF), also exhibits a pro-PRC2 function, increasing H3K27 trimethylation levels at over 1,000 genes. We discovered that ULT1 physically interacts with PRC2 components, particularly the SWINGER (SWN) enzymatic subunit, and that in vitro it significantly enhances the enzymatic activity of PRC2SWN, and to a lesser extent also that of PRC2CLF. This corroborates our epigenomic and developmental genetic data that reveal different ULT1 activity depending on the PRC2 catalytic subunit. This study provides new insights into the relative activities of CLF and SWN and introduces a mechanistic framework for a chromatin switch mediated by a bivalent trxG/PcG factor.

Cannabis use is associated with pro-atherogenic immune cell activation in young and healthy users.

Tavosanis Andrea A